Humanities on the VR?

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TheLadyVanishes

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I took AAMC #3 and got an 11 on VR. If this were the real thing I'd be turning cartwheels, but on the score breakdown, I was 90% for Social Sciences, 100% for Science and only 72% for Humanities. If I end up with a Humanities-heavy VR on the actual test, I might be in trouble.

Does anyone have advice on how to improve on Humanities passages? Reading "The Economist" has probably boosted my score in Social Sciences but it's so much more straightforward. Seriously, some of the arts/philosophy passages are so theoretical and abstract and my background in these subjects is not strong - I have a hard time even understanding what the authors are talking about.

Thanks!

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I feel your pain. I averaged 90%+ on all EK 101 and TPRH social science/science passages but only 60% on humanities passages. The sad thing is I am a history major who has done numerous philosophy courses. Anyway, If you figure out a way or technique that works let me know!
 
I feel ya. The VR section on the AAMC's Practice Exam 3 was unpleasant (in particular, the passage about Confucius was difficult).
 
To help improve your background in the humanities and acclimatize yourself to the kinds of critical writing that goes on in the fields of aesthetics or in philosophy, you might go to Amazon and search "art history essays", "literary criticism essays", "philosophy survey" etc and buy a few $2 or $3 used anthologies. Try to read one or two essays per day, or every few days, and when you read try to imagine the author is a friend telling you something important, and listen carefully.

Every verbal reasoning passage was written by an actual person for an audience. They weren't creating a puzzle but trying to communicate ideas. It will make unfamiliar terrain a lot more coherent if you can learn a kind of self-hypnosis to suppose for a moment that you actually are the person it was written for, that the author is actually trying to communicate to you. A lot of folks, especially those without a background in the humanities, read this type of writing as if they were eavesdropping on bizarre, inscrutable aliens. You may be surprised how much a person can short-circuit the ability to interpret ideas when they assume what they are reading is not meant for them but for other people. Doing some background reading will help you I think, and always try to believe that you are the intended audience, that the author cares that you understand them.
 
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